1 O Master, let me walk with Thee
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

2 Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay,
And guide them in the homeward way.

3 Teach me Thy patience; still with Thee
In closer, dearer company,
In work that keeps faith sweet and strong,
In trust that triumphs over wrong;

4 In hope that sends a shining ray
Far down the future's broadening way;
In peace that only Thou canst give,
With Thee, O Master, let me live.

Amen.

The Hymnal: Published by the authority of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895

Rev. Washington Gladden (1838-1918) took a lot of criticism in his day.

As a proponent of the post-Civil War "social gospel," he tried to address the needs of a society ravaged by the industrial revolution and fight for change in a government, justice system and church that were in severe moral decay. This led him to give Sunday night lectures on labor-management problems, negotiate with strikers, condemn his own Congregational denomination for accepting "tainted money" from Rockefeller, and even lose the chance at two university positions because of his radical beliefs. But from his early days in Potts Grove, Pennsylvania to his 32 year service at the First Congregational Church in Columbus, Ohio he remained faithful to his calling and by the end of his life was a much respected preacher.

His hymn "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee" started its life as a meditation that appeared in a publication called "Sunday Afternoon" which Gladden edited. Two stanzas of the original poem were left out when it became a hymn. They give a good idea of what Gladden was going through when he wrote the poem.

O Master let me walk with thee
Before the taunting Pharisee;
Help me to bear the sting of spite,
The hate of men who hide thy light,

The sore distrust of souls sincere
Who cannot read thy judgments clear,
The dullness of the multitude
Who dimly guess that thou art good.

--Greg Scheer, 1996